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LEEDS’ ONLY OUT OF TOWN SPECULATIVE OFFICE SCHEME STARTS AT THORPE PARK LEEDS

Thorpe Park Developments Ltd, a joint venture between Scarborough Group International and Legal & General Capital, has started on site with the speculative development of the first Grade A office building in phase two at Thorpe Park Leeds.

This is currently the only major out of town speculative office scheme being delivered in Leeds and will be available for occupation from November 2016.

Paradigm is a 31,650 sq ft, premium ‘headquarters’ office building which sits prominently at the gateway to Thorpe Park Leeds overlooking the M1 at Junction 46. It is the first of a total 940,000 sq ft of new business space planned at the business park where planning consent is secured for a further 1.35 million sq ft of mixed use accommodation, bringing a significant boost to the East Leeds economy.

Development plans include a 300,000 sq ft shopping and leisure park with cinema, 300 new homes, further leisure and hotel space and 140 acres of parkland and sports facilities. Strategic construction partner GMI Construction has advanced ground preparation with a phased delivery programme well underway.

Thorpe Park Leeds is already a well-established 800,000 sq ft business park with over 60 occupiers including IBM, National Grid, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Atkins, BAM and United Utilities.

Delivery of the next phase of development at Thorpe Park Leeds follows last year’s announcement that Legal & General Capital were to invest £162 million as joint development partner.

Mark Jackson, consultant at Scarborough Group International said, “We are pleased to announce the start on site for Paradigm which is the first of a new era of office buildings at Thorpe Park Leeds. Occupiers now want more from today’s business park which means that on site amenities that support wellbeing and a sense of community are just as important as location and connectivity. We believe that Thorpe Park Leeds’ new vision has all of the right ingredients to provide a sustainable business location for occupiers for the long term.”

JLL, Cushman & Wakefield and BNP Paribas Real Estate are appointed to market Paradigm.

Jeff Peary, Lead Director for Yorkshire and the North East at JLL said, “We saw an improvement in demand for out of town offices during the latter half of 2015 with over 250,000 sq ft taken up during the year.  There is a real shortage of larger quality modern buildings and Paradigm is therefore arriving at the right time to satisfy this need.”

Adam Cockroft, Director at Cushman & Wakefield said, “The joint venture has seized the opportunity to build speculatively in a market devoid of newly built quality space. We expect this to translate into early letting success.”

Michael Leonard, Director at BNP Paribas Real Estate said, “With no other new builds on site and average take up over the last 5 years being 326,000 sq ft for out of town offices, this is a good time for a premium office building to be on site.”

Thorpe Park Leeds is already an important business location for both Leeds and the North of England, located just six miles east of Leeds City Centre, with direct access off junction 46 of the M1. The new development plans are groundbreaking in their mix of uses and scale and Thorpe Park Developments vision is to develop a business and leisure location unequalled in the UK creating a truly unique place for both existing and new occupiers.

Paradigm offers 31,650 sq ft of lettable space with 122 car parking spaces. Principal floor plates range from 8,800 sq ft to 10,275 sq ft.   The building is located overlooking Junction 46 of the M1, Crossgates railway station is within one mile and new bus services are planned to run through Thorpe Park Leeds.